Liability of Owners of Land

Wyo. Stat. Ann. tit. 34, ch. 19

in effect

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-101 Definitions.

(a) As used in this act: (i) "Land" means land, including state land, roads, water, watercourses, private ways and buildings, structures, and machinery or equipment when attached to the realty; (ii) "Owner" means the possessor of a fee interest, a tenant, lessee, including a lessee of state lands, occupant or person in control of the premises; (iii) "Recreational purpose" includes, but is not limited to, any one (1) or more of the following: hunting, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, picnicking, hiking, pleasure driving, nature study, water skiing, winter sports, bicycling, mountain biking, horseback riding and other equine activities as defined in W.S. 1-1-122(a)(iv), rock climbing, noncommercial aviation activities and viewing or enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic or scientific sites; (iv) "Charge" means the admission price or fee asked in return for invitation or permission to enter or go upon the land; (v) "This act" means W.S. 34-19-101 through 34-19-107.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-102 Landowner's duty of care or duty to give warnings.

Except as specifically recognized by or provided in W.S. 34-19-105, an owner of land owes no duty of care to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for recreational purposes, or to give any warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity on such premises to persons entering for recreational purposes.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-103 Limitations on landowner's liability.

(a) Except as specifically recognized by or provided in W.S. 34-19-105, an owner of land, including a lessee of state land, who either directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use the land for recreational purposes does not thereby: (i) Extend any assurance that the premises are safe for any purpose; (ii) Confer upon the person using the land the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed; (iii) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any damage or injury to person or property, including to a third party, whether or not on the property, caused by an act or omission of the person using the land.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-104 Application to land leased to state or political subdivision thereof.

(a) Unless otherwise agreed in writing W.S. 34-19-102 and 34-19-103 shall be deemed applicable to the duties and liability of: (i) An owner of land leased to the state or any subdivision of this state for recreational purposes; (ii) An owner of land on which the state or any subdivision of the state has an easement for vehicle parking and land access for recreational purposes.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-105 When landowner's liability not limited.

(a) Nothing in this act limits in any way any liability which otherwise exists: (i) For willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity, except an owner whose land is adjacent to a national scenic trail designated by the United States congress and who has conveyed an easement across his lands for purposes of a designated national scenic trail shall owe no duty of care to keep the adjacent lands safe or to give any warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity on the adjacent lands. The installation of a sign, other form of warning or modification made to improve safety shall not create liability on the part of an owner of the adjacent land if there is no other basis for liability; (ii) For injury suffered in any case where the owner of land charges the persons who enter or go on the land for recreational purposes, except that in the case of land leased to the state or a subdivision of this state, any consideration received by the owner for the lease shall not be deemed a charge within the meaning of this section; (iii) Under W.S. 1-39-107.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-106 Duty of care, not created; duty of care of persons using land.

(a) Nothing in this act shall be construed to: (i) Create a duty of care or ground of liability for injury to persons or property; (ii) Relieve any person using the land of another for recreational purposes from any obligation which he may have in the absence of this act to exercise care in his use of the land and in his activities on the land, or from the legal consequences of failure to employ such care.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-107 User liability for damages.

Any person using the land of another for recreational purposes, with or without permission, shall assume the inherent risk of using the land for recreational purposes and shall be liable for any damage or injury to property, livestock or crops or to a third party, whether or not on the property, caused by the person while on the property.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-201 Definitions

(a) As used in this article: (i) "Land" means land, including state land, roads, water, watercourses, private ways and buildings, structures, and machinery or equipment when attached to the realty; (ii) "Owner" means the owner of an interest in land, a tenant, renter, lessee, including a lessee of state lands, lawful occupant or person in control of the premises; (iii) "Trespasser" means a person or persons who enter or remain upon land in the possession of another without a privilege to do so created by the owner's consent or otherwise.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-202 Duty of owner of land to trespasser.

Except as provided in W.S. 34-19-203, an owner of land owes no duty of care to a trespasser and is not liable for any injury to a trespasser, except that the owner owes a duty not to willfully or wantonly injure a trespasser.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-203 Artificial conditions highly dangerous to trespassing children.

(a) An owner of land is subject to liability for physical harm to a child trespassing on the land caused by an artificial condition upon the land if: (i) The place where the condition exists is one upon which the owner knows or has reason to know that a child is likely to trespass; (ii) The condition is one of which the owner knows or has reason to know and which he realizes or should realize will involve an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to the child; (iii) The child because of his youth does not discover the condition or realize the risk involved in intermeddling with it or in coming within the area made dangerous by it; (iv) The utility to the owner of maintaining the condition and the burden of eliminating the danger are slight as compared with the risk to the child involved; and (v) The owner fails to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or otherwise to protect the child.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 34-19-204 Conflicts.

If a statute other than a statute in this article prescribes a standard or duty of care that differs from that prescribed in this article, the other standard or duty of care shall control over the provisions of this article.

Source: Public.Resource.Org WY StatutesURL: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-wy/transforms/wy/ocwy/r78/gov.wy.code.title.34.htmlFetched: 6/28/2026